Amulet
by Movie-maniac
Summary: Their world is turned upside down when the threat of an invading army forces them to abandon their homes. Joseph, Éireann, Thamior, twins Alana and Hennett and dwarf Krun tell a tale of danger, loss and adventure that grips the soul.
1. Wolves and glittermines

Éireann grumbled with annoyance. Anxious to finish, she tried to pick the prickly cactus berry from the umber-leafed plant much faster than she should have. As a result, her hands were covered in red sores. Her basket was still half-empty. Meanwhile, Joseph was nimbly working on his fifth basket, snatching the berries up without so much as a minor scratch. She glared at him. He grinned back and continued to work.

"Why-does-he-have-to-be-so-good-at-everything-he-does?!" she muttered angrily as she worked. Joseph laughed.

"Let's head down to the mines on our way back," Joseph suggested after they'd finished.

"Sure," Éireann uncharacteristically agreed. "If we went to the meet straight away we'd be waiting half the day for Krun anyway."

The mines of Pelor's rock were carved into the bordering cliffs of Runeland. They were worked day and night by the townspeople, led by the old dwarf Andin Stigma, Krun's father. The Stigmas had been shunned by their people when, ten years earlier, Andin had been caught with more than his fair share of the gold. Despite this, the Stigmas were well respected, not only for their prowess in the mines, but also for their skills in story telling.

Joseph and Éireann headed down the dark mines quickly, though carefully so as not to disturb the men concentrating on their task, and kept their eyes on the ground, scattered with tools, ropes and carved tracks.

The area Krun was working on was rich in iron ore, copper and gold. The minerals glittered dimly in the lamplight, and reminded them both of why dwarves were fascinated with treasures. Krun himself was working on moving debris that had fallen down, blocking the rest of the tunnel. When they approached him, he was staring down at his own hand in fascination, and jumped when they came close. He quickly shoved whatever he'd been holding into his pocket and tried to act casual.

They both shrugged, almost simultaneously. They'd both seen Krun steal gold before, and it was generally agreed by the townspeople that as long as not too much went missing, the discrepancies could be ignores. Besides, Éireann had a sneaking suspicion that Joseph had a stockpile of his own somewhere that no-one knew about yet.

"Hey, we're just heading over to the practise grounds now, are you ready?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, sure," he answered uncertainly, in his deep, booming voice. I'll be right there." He indicated that they should leave.

"Well that was unusual," Joseph said after they'd left. "Did you see what he was holding?"

"Sort of," she replied, confused. "It didn't look like gold to me, at least not raw stuff."

"Probably just a piece of old junk or something," he said half to himself.

"Finally!" Alana exclaimed as they reached the top of the hill, passing between the ditzy looking sheep.

"What took you?" Hennet asked, perplexed. "We've been waiting for ages."

Joseph smiled and shook his head. "We stopped to check on Krun on the way. He should be here soon."

"Good," Thamior said, coming up after them. "Then we can get started." He frowned and examined Éireann's hands. "You tried to rush it again, didn't you?" He said perplexedly.

"Yes father," she teased. "Now, where's my costume?"

"Right here," Alana said, handing it over.

"Needs a few more feathers."

"You said that last time."

"The sheep look a little restless."

"Thamior, I think there's a problem with the whole fire act."

"Well, I'm saying it again."

"Did anyone hear that?"

"The whole routine is stuffed up."

"Just listen for a second!"

"I thought you said we were doing okay."

"I changed my mind."

"Guys, don't you hear that?"

"Here, I brought a few spare, I knew you were going to say that."

"Maybe if we speed up Krun's act a little it'll fit in better."

"Thanks."

"I don't think he'll like that very much-"

"QUIET!!!!" Everyone turned to Joseph, red faced and pointing down the hill to the left.

"I hear it," Éireann whispered. She quickly pulled her spear out of the ground and snuck down. It was a wolf, trying to snag one of the lambs, and it was one she'd seen before.

_I thought I told you to stay away from my sheep._ She told her.

_I'm not scared of humans. I'll eat what's there. Why should I eat what girl tells me to eat? I want prey. _She replied menacingly. A growl escaped from her throat and she crouched low.

_These are my sheep. I've warned you before to stay away from them. If you don't then I'll kill you._

_I'm not scared of girl. I'll eat girl too if girl comes closer. _The she-wolf bared its teeth threateningly.

Éireann moved closer, breathing hard. Sweat stood out on her forehead and her brow was creased in concentration. The wolf suddenly launched herself at her and she moved with lightning speed and accuracy. The spearhead collided with the creature mid-air, and a strangled sound escaped her throat. She died as she hit the ground.

Éireann stood still, and for a moment left her arm hanging in the air. Then she straightened up, and standing over the dead thing, she pulled out her weapon, which was smeared with dark blood. She turned back to the others, who'd become silent from shock. One thought came into her head, and it was that she'd killed, really killed, not just some small mindless creature, but that she'd killed for the first time in her life something that was real, living, soulful.

"Éireann," said Hennet, always the responsible one. "Go back to the village. We'll look after the sheep." He looked at the dead wolf. "Alana, you go too. And come back with a couple of shovels."


	2. The sunlight festival

The festival began with a great flourish, as Hennet waved his hands and spoke the words to light up the sky with flaming fireworks. Music began to play, Alana began to sing and everywhere people got up to dance around the campfire. Éireann sat dazed, staring into space and thinking about the event that had taken place a few days earlier.

"Hey," Thamior greeted her, coming over and sitting down. "You look blue."

She smiled. "Actually, I feel orange," was the customary response.

"Cheer up," he said, nudging her in the arm. "This is the night we celebrate Pelor watching over us in the summer months and the night we pray that he will visit us in the winter."

"I know."

"But you're still not happy."

"No, I guess I'm not."

Thamior sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. What do you say in this situation? "You did the right thing, Éireann. The wolf attacked you. It would have killed you and the sheep and we would all be dealing with your death, instead of the death of some wolf."

She got angry at that point. "It wasn't just some wolf." She stopped herself from saying something else, and tried to calm herself down. "When you've been inside their heads, and you realise that they have real, genuine thoughts that aren't just instinct, that they're as important to the world as any human then you know how bad what you've done was."

"It was self-defence," Thamior stated stubbornly. "You weren't breaking any rules by defending yourself."

"I still feel like I could have done something different," she said just as stubbornly.

He laughed. "Fine, hate yourself then, just not tonight. This is the one night of the year where we don't have to think about chores and responsibilities. This is freedom. Enjoy it."

A small smile crept onto her face. "Okay."

"Now will you dance with me? We're the only ones not dancing," he said, half-laughing.

She looked around. He was right. Everywhere people were spinning around and moving to the beat. Joseph was making his mother laugh with his crazy antics and proving to everyone once and for all that he couldn't dance. Alana was singing gracefully and Krun held the beat on the drums. Hennet was politely asking five-year old Izzy Graves to dance, and even her own parents were having fun. Her father kept dancing towards Lukas Gallac for quick conversations, leaving her mother to talk in snatches to Meara.

Suddenly the food started to appear. It seemed that everyone had something to contribute, with trays of fresh fruit and vegetables appearing, and loaves of bread and meat pies, and the roast pork, and jars of fine cactus berry wine. Everyone quickly assembled at the communal table to gather food onto ceramic plates and to resume seating around the fire. It seemed that no sooner had the food appeared had it disappeared, and Éireann knew that the disappearance was the work of Joseph Gallac almost as much as that of the villager's appetites.

Alana came over and gestured that they should get ready for their part. She needn't have worried, Éireann was ready to get up and moving again.

The party had gathered away from the celebrations in Lukas Gallac's home, and were into their costumes the minute they arrived. Thamior looked around at the colours. Joseph wore plain black, save for a royal blue cloak that looked almost fitting for his skinny frame. Hennet wore a deep red, and looked little different to before. Krun was dressed in yellow, which seemed to fit his part and Éireann was coloured in warm feathers, red, orange and green, bright and energetic. Alana was beautiful in a light blue dress and silver jewellery, a rarity in the country. He looked at his own outfit, made to match Éireann's.

As a whole, they clashed terribly, but he knew that once the performance had begun the colour co- ordination blunder would be easily forgotten. They were ready.  
  
As before, the performance began with Hennet's fireworks display, but from then on it was uniquely different to the first. Éireann began with back flips and handstands and cartwheels, and the slow beating of the steady drum kept time. Alana soon stepped in with a hauntingly beautiful tune, and Thamior was ready when his cue arrived. He began with a routine of spinning the long staff between his hands, and felt rather than saw Joseph's presence nearby as he wove in and out of the deadly zone, clutching objects that he threw into the air at exact moments, in timing perfectly with both Thamior and Éireann.

Then the time came for him to light the staff. He did it almost in one motion, and both ends flared into life simultaneously. The crowds gasped as the deadly thing whirred through the air, leaving patterns almost as bright as Hennet's continuing fireworks overhead. Thamior would have smiled if he didn't have to concentrate so hard.

Suddenly he heard a cry from the distance, and he dropped the staff to the ground, where it was quickly extinguished in the sand, and stood stock-still waiting to hear more.

Éireann knew that Thamior would stop even before he had. They were so in- tune that she shared his very awareness. But when the cry came out, the voice she heard wasn't human, but animal. 

In moments she was running away from the town into the desert, Joseph close behind. It was minutes before she saw the creature, mad with fright as it veered towards her. She ran at it and threw her arms in the air, using all the concentration she could muster to think calm thoughts, project calm thoughts towards the horse, and only at the last minute did it slow to stop, trembling before her.

Joseph ran quickly past, spraying up sand as he went. Lying maybe twenty metres further into the gloom was a sprawled figure. He nearly tripped over him in the dark. The man was badly injured, both from the fall and from some earlier injury. It was difficult to tell in the dark. Everything was still blurred, his eyes hadn't adjusted yet, but the person's heartbeat was faint and he knew he had to get him back soon or he'd die.

The man gestured for him to come closer and started to say something. It wasn't until his face was next to that of the man's that he understood fragments. "-Didn't know...it was too late...kings....evacuate to the capital...not much time- " the man fainted. Joseph swallowed his panic and lifted the man off the ground and stumbled back to the camp, offloading his burden to the horse on the way.  
When he got back he was met with bewildered, worried faces. He dreaded what he was about to tell them. "He's a messenger from the next village," he began, gesturing to the man. "I think we're all in great danger."


End file.
